1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to battery-powered printing apparatus, and more particularly to a space-economizing construction for such apparatus.
2. Description of Prior Art
As devices such as personal computers and word processors have become more numerous and smaller, there has arisen a concurrent desire to provide smaller output printers for those devices. Such output printers use various printing technologies, e.g. impression or dot matrix impacting, thermal dye transferring and ink jet printing such as piezoelectric or thermal drop on demand devices. A common requirement for output printers using the above or other printing technologies is an electrical power source.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,899 points out that it is highly advantageous for such data transferring machines to be "portable", implying that the machines desirably incorporate their own source of electrical power. However, even with the improvements that have been incorporated into small batteries, the power requirements for operating such output printers necessitates either: (i) the dedication of considerable volume within a printer housing or (ii) the approach of using a separate portable power supply. Neither of these alternatives is attractive from the viewpoint of the consumer who wishes maximum capability with the minimum baggage.